31 I, Yahweh, say this: ‘There will be a time when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 This new agreement will not be like the agreement that I made with their ancestors when I took them by their hands and led them out of Egypt. They broke that agreement, even though I loved them like [MET] husbands love their wives.’ 33 This is what I, Yahweh, say: ‘This is the new agreement that I will make with the people of Israel some day: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their inner beings. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 And it will not be necessary for them to teach their neighbors or their relatives and say, "You need to know Yahweh," because everyone, including unimportant people and very important people, will already know me. And I will forgive them for having been very wicked, and I will never think again about the sins that they have committed.’ "

6 But now as it is, Christ ministers in a more excellent way than the Jewish priests do. Likewise, the new covenant that he established between God and people is better than the old one. When the new covenant was established {God established the new covenant}, he promised us better things than the laws that God gave Moses did.

7 If that first covenant had been perfectly adequate [LIT], God would not have thought that he needed another covenant/agreement to replace it. But it was not adequate, so he needed a new one.

13 Since God spoke about a new covenant, he considered that the first covenant was no longer in use, and that it would soon disappear, just like anything that gets old will disappear [MET, DOU].

22 Because of that, Jesus guarantees that the new covenant will be better than the old one.

20 Similarly, after they had eaten the meal, he took another cup of wine. He said, "The wine in [MTY] this cup represents my blood, which will soon flow from my body when I die. With this blood I will sign the new agreement that God is making with you.

27 Later he took a cup of wine and thanked God for it. Then he gave it to us, saying, "Drink some of the wine in this cup, all of you. 28 The wine in this cup represents my blood, which will soon flow from my body. With my blood I will sign the new agreement that God is making to forgive the sins of many people.

14 So, because we know what Christ accomplished when his blood flowed when he died for us [PRS, MTY], we will be very certain that we are not guilty of having done those things that those who are spiritually dead do. As a result, we can serve God, who is all-powerful. The priests always offer to God animals with no defects. Similarly, when Christ offered himself as a sacrifice to God, he was sinless [MET]. He did that as a result of God’s eternal Spirit helping him.

15 By dying for us, Christ ◄redeemed/set free from the penalty for their sins► even those who disobeyed the conditions of (OR, during the time of) the first covenant. So, because no one could be made perfect by obeying the old covenant, now Christ establishes between God and people a new covenant. He does that in order that those whom God has chosen may eternally have the blessings that God has promised them.

16 A covenant is like a will. In the case of a will, in order to put its provisions into effect, someone must prove that the one who made it has died. 17 A will goes into effect only when the one who makes the will has died. It is not in effect when the one who made it is still alive. 18 And so God put the first covenant into effect only [LIT] by means of animals’ blood that was shed when they were slaughtered. 19 After Moses had declared to all the Israelites everything that God commanded in the laws that God gave him, he took calves’ and goats’ blood mixed with water. He dipped into it scarlet wool that he tied around a sprig of hyssop. Then he sprinkled with some of the blood the scroll itself containing God’s laws. Then he sprinkled more of that blood on all the people, 20 saying to them, "This is the blood which brings into effect the covenant that God commanded that you obey."

1 Just like a shadow vaguely represents the thing that it is a shadow of, the laws that God gave Moses only poorly represent [MET] the good things that were to come later. Those laws were not all the good things themselves that God has promised. So, by offering the same kinds of sacrifices every year, people [PRS] who approach God can never become ◄perfect/all that God intends them to be►. 2 If God had removed the guilt for having sinned of those who brought the sacrifices, they would not feel that they were still guilty. So they would certainly have stopped offering those sacrifices! [RHQ] 3 But rather, the fact that they offer those sacrifices each year reminds them that they are still guilty for their sins. 4 The principle is that blood of animals such as bulls or goats can never remove the guilt of those who have sinned.

17 The fact is that God makes every one of us who trusts in Christ to be completely different than we were before. Our old way of conducting our lives is gone. We now have a completely new way of conducting our lives. 18 This complete change in our lives is all something that God does. It is God who made it possible for us to have a peaceful relationship with him. He was able to do that because of what Christ did for us. Now God has sent me, and those who work with me, to tell people that they can have a peaceful relationship with him. 19 That is, he sent us(exc) to tell them that when Christ died, God was making it possible for everyone [MTY] in the world to have a peaceful relationship with him. He no longer keeps a record of the sinful things that we believers have done. The message that God has given to us to tell people is how we can have a peaceful relationship with him. 20 So, it is I and my companions who are Christ’s representatives in this world. When we tell people the message about Christ, it is God himself who is pleading with them by means of what we say. So, as true representatives of Christ, we plead with you: Believe God’s true message about Christ in order that you may be reconciled to {have a peaceful relationship with} him. 21 You must believe that even though Jesus never sinned, God punished him for all the sinful things that people do, just as if Jesus had done those sinful things himself. And because of our close relationship with Christ, God has erased the record of our sins/declared us no longer guilty for our sins.

4 I can very confidently write these things about the work that Silas, Timothy, and I did among you, because God knows that what I write is true. We(exc) are true workers for God because of what Christ has done for us. 5 We (exc), by ourselves, do not have the ability to do this work. None of us apostles can say, "I have changed the lives of these people." God is the one who has given us this ability. 6 He is the one who enables us (exc) to be his messengers. He has enabled us to tell people the message about the new agreement that he is making with them. This is not a message about obeying all the written laws of his old agreement that he made with the Jewish people. Instead, it is a message about God giving us his Spirit. Previously, God condemned people to be separated from him forever if they did not obey his laws. But by God’s new agreement his Spirit enables people to live eternally.

11 You Ephesians have been non-Jews from the time that you were born. The Jews ◄insult you/say that you are not God’s people► by calling you ‘those who are not circumcised’. They proudly call themselves ‘we (exc) who are circumcised’. They have allowed people to circumcise them to indicate that they are God’s people, but that has only changed their bodies, not their ◄inner beings/hearts►. 12 You should constantly remember these things: Formerly you did not have any relationship with Christ. You did not belong to the people of Israel, the people whom God chose. You did not know about the things God promised in his agreements with his people. You did not confidently expect to go to heaven after you die (OR, that God would save you). You lived in this world without knowing God. 13 But now, because of your relationship with Christ Jesus, God has brought you, who had no relationship with him [MET], into his family [MET]. He did that because you trusted in what Christ accomplished when his blood [MTY] flowed from his body when he died on the cross.

10 And God has shown us what it means to love another person: It does not mean that we loved God, but it means that God loved us and sent ◄his Son/the one who was also God► to sacrifice his life in order that our sins might be forgiven {he might forgive our sins}.